The space between them shrank until there was nothing left to bridge. It wasn’t the frantic, frozen pond kind of kiss. This was slower, deeper, anchored in the hum of the house around them. Grace’s hands slid into Alix’s hair, pulling her closer until Alix had no choice but to wrap her arms around her in return.
The taste of mint tea and warmth. The faint scratch of towel fibers between them. The low, surprised sound Grace made when Alix’s hand found her waist.
When they finally broke apart, they both looked stunned, like the world had shifted and they were still finding their footing.
Grace’s phone buzzed on the counter.
They froze, still close enough that Alix could feel the tension through Grace’s body.
“It’s the airline,” Grace said, attention on the screen.
Alix blinked, disoriented.
Grace answered the phone, listening and agreeing with whatever she was hearing, and it was all Alix could do to not tug her closer again, pull that sweatshirt over her head, and pick her up to sit on the bathroom counter. She forced herself to take a step back.
“That was the baggage people,” Grace said, her voice shaky. She cleared her throat, trying for composure. “They’re delivering my bag tonight.”
“Oh,” Alix said, forcing her brain to catch up. “That’s kind of late, but good.”
Grace nodded, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “Yeah. Really good.”
For a long, quiet second, neither of them moved. Grace’s hair gleamed in the bathroom light, layered and soft, like Alix’s touch still lived in it.
Then, Helen’s voice cut through the moment: “Alexandra, don’t you dare leave this hair in here.”
Alix and Grace burst into hysterical giggles, and Grace’s hand slipped into Alix’s, so easy and familiar.
“Come on, let’s go clean up the kitchen salon,” Alix said, leading the way.
Chapter Twenty-Three
GRACE
Kissing Alix was instantly addictive.It was all Grace could think about while she sat at the counter and watched Helen make tea and Alix sweep the floor. Absentmindedly running her fingers through the silky ends of her hair, she couldn’t stop thinking about Alix’s blunt nails against her scalp. Of how much better they’d feel digging into her back.
Alix seemed to sense her thoughts, because she shot her a glance while she emptied the dustbin into the trash. The way she’d moistened her lips had been subtle, but Grace felt the lust in her gaze like confident fingers unbuttoning her jeans.
She was back on the ice with Alix’s kiss on her lips. It was like no first kiss she’d ever had before. It wasn’t just electric and hot and worth risking her life for, it was deep and meaningful and stirred to life something in her body she feared dead.
If she spent the rest of her life on cold, wet ice, she’d be happy if it meant having Alix right beside her. Well… under her. Her thoughts drifted further than a kiss. She wondered what it would’ve been like to pull off her gloves. To slide her hand inside Alix’s shirt and steal her warmth. To drown in her.
The sound of Helen’s phone buzzing against the counter made a guilty Grace jump. While Helen answered it, she checked her own phone. Her luggage was supposed to be delivered any minute.
“Calm down, Susan. Of course you can come here,” Helen said into her phone while she steeped the chamomile. “Yes, yes. No, you’re right, that’s awful.” Helen rolled her eyes at Grace as if to sayI’d stage a kidnapping to get off this call. “You have Bobbi and Whitney with you too, that’s wonderful.”
At the sound of the unusual, or rather infamous, name combo, Grace looked up from her screen to find Alix. “Pets?” she mouthed silently to her.
Alix, face luminous while she struggled not to laugh in front of her mother, shook her head. “Twin human girls,” she mouthed back slowly as if for dramatic effect.
When Grace’s eyes widened in secondhand embarrassment, Alix nodded. Her response made Grace guess that the family had warned them against those selections, but whoever Susan was had clearly been undeterred.
“Well.” Helen sighed when she hung up. “My youngest sister is coming.” She looked between Alix and Grace. “With her husband and two kids.”
“Mom, they’re twenty years old,” Alix said with a chuckle.
“And they are still their children, Alexandra,” Helen countered, but Grace registered her amusement. “Strange as they are,” she muttered before snapping back to the task. “Grace, honey, I’m so sorry to ask this of you, but apparently my brother-in-law had quite the blowout with his family. Would you be terribly inconvenienced if we played a little musical beds?”
“No, of course not.” Grace’s heart hammered with a forming possibility. “I am happy to sleep on the couch.”
